Cunigham Surname

6,360,413th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 9 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Nicaragua
Highest density in:
Belize

Cunigham Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Cunningham,' a district in North Ayrshire, containing a large number of parishes.

1502. Buried — Thomas Conningham: St. Michael, Cornhill.

1711. Married — Robert Hammond and Elizabeth Cunningham: ibid.

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Cunigham Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Nicaragua31:2,007,0306,490
United States31:120,819,6441,331,040
Belize11:355,4743,977
Brazil11:214,074,3321,693,628
Honduras11:8,816,4429,272
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland181:246,10410,726
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England41:6,093,842135,151
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States511:984,68058,342

Cunigham Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Cunningham,' a district in North Ayrshire, containing a large number of parishes.

1502. Buried — Thomas Conningham: St. Michael, Cornhill.

1711. Married — Robert Hammond and Elizabeth Cunningham: ibid.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

The northern district of Ayrshire, containing many parishes, whence the old earls of Glencairn. Conyngham and Cunynghame are varieties of this name.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

CUNNGHAME: Local: From the district of Cunninghame in Ayrshire. Malcolm Canmore being hotly pursued by Macbeth took refuge in a barn, where a countryman called Malcolm the son of Friskin, concealed him by forking hay or straw over him; on the accession of Malcolm Can-more to the throne he granted to his deliverer the Thanedom of Cunninghame, and for his arms, argent a shake fork sable, with the motto, "Over fork over."

The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames (1862) by Clifford Stanley Sims (1839-1896)

Local. A district in Ayrshire, Scotland. The name signifies the dwelling of the chief or king, from the Saxon, cyning, Dutch, koning, a leader or chief, and ham, a house or town.

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857) by William Arthur

Cunigham Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Cunigham Come From? nationality or country of origin

Cunigham is most common in Nicaragua. It may also occur as:. For other possible spellings of this surname click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Cunigham? popularity and diffusion

The surname is the 6,360,413th most frequently held last name on earth. It is borne by around 1 in 809,727,324 people. This last name is predominantly found in The Americas, where 100 percent of Cunigham live; 56 percent live in Central America and 44 percent live in Hispano-Central America.

This surname is most widespread in Nicaragua, where it is carried by 3 people, or 1 in 2,007,030. In Nicaragua Cunigham is primarily concentrated in: North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, where 67 percent are found and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, where 33 percent are found. Apart from Nicaragua it occurs in 4 countries. It also occurs in The United States, where 33 percent are found and Belize, where 11 percent are found.

Cunigham Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of Cunigham has changed through the years. In The United States the share of the population with the last name contracted 94 percent between 1880 and 2014.

Cunigham Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those holding the Cunigham surname is chiefly Catholic (72%) in Ireland.

Phonetically Similar Names

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Cunigham
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis